FROM MOSQUES TO JUNGLES, MALAYSIA ENCHANTS VISITORS.

Byline: Luaine Lee Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service

Trekking the jungle might not be your first thought when you imagine your summer vacation.

But it's something that can still be done, even by dedicated couch spuds. The country of Malaysia offers not only the opportunity to negotiate rugged rain-forest trails, but to dine with one-time headhunters, crew a longboat through rapids, tip-toe your way across a bamboo bridge and live to tell about it.

Half of Malyasia is on the peninsular extension from Thailand. The rest of it - the states of Sarawak and Sabah - is on the island of Borneo.

It's a little schizophrenic because Kuala Lumpur, the capital on the peninsular side, is buzzing with commerce. Cellular telephones sprout everywhere, even in the open-air market. Industrious employees tote overstuffed briefcases through the crowded streets and construction is under way on every corner.

Across the South China Sea in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, things are a little slower. Although still ruffled with ambitious undertakings, it's from Kuching that you can begin your trek into the heart of darkness.

A 4-1/2-hour bus trip (part of it dirt road), then a ferry across the Batang Ai reservoir drops you at the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort and the Batang Ai National Forest - hundreds of miles of virgin and secondary forest that crackles with wildlife. Carnivorous pitcher plants gobble insects and bamboo grows an inch a day - so fast that you can hear the base creak.

You might catch a glimpse of the proboscis monkey (found only in Borneo); examine the Bintangor tree, which is being studied as a treatment for AIDS; or taste the bananas that grow upside down. Here you can visit a pepper farm where the berries are dried in the sun, filling the air with a pungent, spicy odor. You can watch the liquid latex drip into coconut cups as they tap the rubber trees or study the fat brown pods that produce chocolate.

One of the most exciting outings in Sarawak is a visit to the Iban tribal people and their longhouse. The Iban were once head-hunters, preserving their enemies' heads as a way of harnessing their power. They gave up that practice 50 years ago, but still live the way their ancestors did, in a 720-foot-long longhouse, an extended bamboo building supported by stilts where each family has its own apartment, but shares a common veranda.

Once the most fierce of the five major tribes in Malaysia, the Iban now farm and even enjoy electricity. Headhunting was outlawed in the '20s, but enjoyed a small resurgence during World War II when the Japanese occupied Sarawak. Blackened skulls still hang over the hearths of some longhouses.

The treasures in Kuching and Kuala Lumpur are worth exploring, too.

In Kuching, must-see sights are the Kuching Mosque shring and the free Sawawak Museum - considered the best in southeast Asia - the main bazaar where you can bargain for gold, pewter and antiques and the Sunday market.

From noon Saturday to noon Sunday, the tribal people display the produce they've hauled in from the forest. A staggering profusion of exotic fruits and vegetables ripen under colorful umbrellas, each vendor offering something you've never seen before - capping a true exotic experience.

ON LOCATION

A three-day, two-night visit to both the Iban tribal longhouse and Batang Ai Resort from Kuching - with full board and transportation - runs about $400 per person for two. For an additional $20, travelers can spend the night in the longhouse, although a mattress and mosquito netting is about as fancy as it gets. And you share the room with all the other overnighters.

From the Batang Ai Resort, there are dozens of other low-priced excursions into the interior, including river explorations, a 15-mile jogging journey, lake cruises and treks through the forest with knowledgeable guides. A journey up-river to picnic at a tumbling waterfall costs $30 each for a party of two (less for larger groups.) A six-hour trek along the ridge once favored by pirates runs $21 per person. A day's fishing, with equipment furnished, sets you back $10 per person.

Trips to the interior can be arranged through any travel agent in Kuching. Asian Overland Services (011-60-03-4529100) offers the most comprehensive set of tours. Others include Borneo Adventure (011-60-82-245175) or Pan Asia Travel (011-60-82-428969). For information on the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort in the Kuching region, call [phone].

For general tourist information, contact the Chief Malaysian Tourist Office, 011-60-03-293-5188, or - in the U.S. - the Los Angeles branch at [phone].

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Photo, Box

Photo: The gilded cupolas of Kuching Mosque, built in1968, make it one of the city's most striking landmarks.

Box: ON LOCATION (see text)